The Xtraordinary Xceed Xpectations
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day five hundred and one:  abc 24 of 26  He wasn't always a Warbler... he wasn't always who he'd become... But he remembers.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 23rd cycle. Now cycle 24!_

_**ALPHABET 2.0** - So nearly a year ago (HA!) I had done a set of stories taking inspiration by words, three for each letter of the alphabet (started with Acapella, Audition Arts in mid-February and every other day to April). Well now I wanted to do something like that, but using the alphabet another way. Instead of random words, I made sentences, all with those same letters (you'll see). The first half was in cycle 22, now here's the second half in cycle 24!  
**TODAY:** (24 of 26) X is for..._

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**"The Xtraordinary Xceed Xpectations"  
Blaine **

If they ever saw him now, they probably wouldn't even recognize him. To be honest, he wasn't sure he'd recognize himself either. It wasn't all that long ago, and yet… He'd made a new life for himself, a new world. He had left behind the things and the people that had weighed down on his soul for so long and found his place among people who didn't see him as that other version of himself anymore.

He remembered when no one knew, when he lived in that proverbial closet with no need or intention of leaving it, and he remembered being… He had his happiness, and maybe his life was small but he was okay with it. He still had to wonder if it would ever be different, if he'd find someone… How could he, really, if no one knew who he was, what he was looking for? He tried not to wonder about it too far. He wasn't ready to take a step.

Except the step was taken for him. Everything was played out because of one second.

His name was Lee. He wasn't the star quarterback, not a captain, just a guy, a really… really hot guy, and one of the only ones who'd ever acknowledged his presence… and Blaine had latched on to that. He didn't know him, not really, and this would be a downfall. Because for all the sweetness he'd believed existed in Lee's heart, it was masking the venom… He never saw it coming. One day he had let himself get lost in a stare, so taken by the way Lee spoke with his hands, even with just some friends. Blaine smiled absently, seeing Lee's friends smirk at whatever he said, but then… One of them saw him, pointed him out to Lee. Blaine was quick to turn back to his book, but it was too late… damage done. A moment later, Lee had stridden up to him.

It had started off about as he figured it would, with Lee asking if he was staring. Of course Blaine had said he wasn't, and he thought it would all end there… it didn't. Lee had leaned in, not in a romantic way but in a 'you better listen' kind of way… he'd never seen him like this. He'd started asking what his deal was, said that he'd seen him do this before but that he hadn't said anything. He asked if he was just really distracted, or if he was gay… He'd said no, and inside he had hated himself for it, but that feeling was momentarily substituted as he saw the look on Lee's face.

In between the question and the answer there had been one second of hesitation too many.

He hadn't thought too much of it, not until he'd gone in to school the next morning, and… everybody knew. He would never know if Lee had made it his personal mission, but Blaine knew it was him who'd lit the kindling and now the flames were everywhere, no safe place to be without getting burned. Those flames took up every bit of his normal life, and left behind a new world for him, living in ruins.

He'd tell himself it would be okay, at first, but then 'okay' wasn't coming, and every new day, having to wait for it, it became harder to believe it would ever come… His shoulders would slump further and further down in what started in hope and then turned to concern, and fear, and doubt, and denial, and then finally resignation… It wasn't coming, not to this place.

It didn't go completely unnoticed. His parents had seen his growing unhappiness, and they'd asked him what was wrong. He hadn't even come out to them yet, so how could he even begin to explain? After the betrayal he'd lived at school, he couldn't bear the thought of losing them as well. So he lied… Heartbreak… not a complete lie. But he knew he had to play like he was okay when he was with them or they'd keep asking questions. He put on a brave face.

It tired him. It ached, until finally he couldn't keep managing those two worlds, and he cracked. He blurted it out, right at the dinner table.

He wanted to run, as soon as he'd realized he'd said it out loud. But then his mother came and she sat with him, held him without a word. After that night it had taken a few days for things to settle in this new reality, but… they were okay. No explosions, no more ruins… All these fears and instead what he'd found was peace… half a peace…

But just the relief of that one load being off his shoulders had made something click in his mind. He wasn't going to keep living like this, under the thumb of a collective bully that was ruining this whole part of his life…

A clean slate, that was what he needed. His school, they'd never forget. But he felt stronger now, and he didn't want it to get taken from him. The only way he could see that happening was if he started anew… somewhere else. To the people at his old school, he would have just disappeared… like he'd run away. But it was a small price to pay. He wouldn't be that scared boy anymore; he refused. Happiness wasn't a privilege to be held back by those people… it was his right, and he would fight for it with all his might.

THE END

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**A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
****In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
****always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


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